


Why Bear is Afraid of Coyote

by gardnerhill



Series: Tales From Wind-Goes-Through-It Lodge [2]
Category: due South
Genre: Alternate Universe - Animals, Episode: s01e17 The Deal, Folklore, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-08-25 21:08:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16668331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gardnerhill/pseuds/gardnerhill
Summary: The due South episode "The Deal" retold as a folktale.





	Why Bear is Afraid of Coyote

Mighty Bear is a fierce animal, with rows of sharp teeth and long claws on his paws. He can kill any animal he wants. There was a time when Coyote was afraid of him, as all the other animals are afraid of Bear. But one day it all changed, and from that day on Bear has been afraid of scrawny little Coyote.

  
It was once told!  


This was in the time after Wolf had been driven from the land of the north, the land where it is always snow, and went to live with his clan-brother Coyote in Wind-Goes-Through-It, the mighty lodge on the edge of a great lake in the land of the south. Wind, the powerful chief, blew through that great lodge every day, invisible but inescapable.

  
Wind-Goes-Through-It was bigger than any other lodge ever built; bigger even than the biggest longhouses in the north. Many people lived in that lodge, so many that they could not be counted, and the lodge was so big that it took many days of travel to cross Wind-Goes-Through-It. That lodge was so big that all the animals lived there too; people hunted for their food within the lodge and brought it back to the dens and holes and dwellings where they lived within the giant lodge.  


Wolf and Coyote were very different from each other. Wolf was a handsome fellow, a brave warrior, and a sober hunter; he said what he thought and did what he said. Old Man Coyote was a scrawny, ugly fellow with a yellow grin, who never hunted when he could steal, never stole when he could trick, and never tricked when he could lie. Wolf was a plain and simple warrior; Coyote knew powerful magic. Wolf had been solitary all his life; Coyote's den was full of his noisy family members — his wife and mother, his sisters and brothers, and his innumerable pups yelping and tumbling everywhere. It was a full-time job to feed that family, and Coyote was glad his clan-brother Wolf was such a good provider. Wolf was gradually getting used to the noise and crowds in the Coyote den, and to his surprise he had become fast friends with Coyote. In turn Coyote, much to his own surprise, had grown to love Wolf as a brother.  


One time when Wolf and Coyote were out hunting in Wind-Goes-Through-It, they saw Fox running toward them as fast as he could, a salmon in his jaws. Fox was being chased by a roaring, charging Bear; Bear's long plumed tail was high in the air to show his anger.  


"Ai ai ai!" Coyote said. "Look, clan-brother. That stupid Fox has stolen from Bear, and now Bear will kill him!"  Fox and Bear were coming closer to them.  


"Then we must protect Fox from Bear," said Wolf.  "Fox is our clan-brother too."    


"If we anger Bear he will kill us as well!" Coyote snapped. "Let him kill Fox, and good riddance to the stupid thief!"  


Just then Fox ran up to them, panting with exhaustion, the stolen salmon hanging by its tail from Fox's mouth. "Help me, cousins, hide me!"  


Coyote bolted. No other animals dared show their heads out of their dens or burrows or dwellings, not with Bear so big and so angry. It was only Fox and Wolf, and Bear was coming closer. "You should hunt your own food, cousin," was all Wolf said to Fox as he picked up the salmon.  


Bear roared right up to Wolf. Fox began scratching the ground quickly.  


"So you are here, mighty fisher Bear," Wolf said respectfully, and gave the salmon back.  


Bear snatched the salmon away from Wolf without a single word of thanks. His fine plumed tail was curled tightly over his back, all brown and white and gray. "Do I know you?  What is your clan?" he snarled.  


"I am Wolf; I come from the land of the north, where it is always snow," Wolf said; tall as he was, Wolf still had to crane his head far back to look Bear in the eyes. "I live here now, in the den of my clan-brother Coyote. Forgive my cousin Fox; he is a foolish, flighty creature who steals from everyone."  


"A new asshole in Coyote's den — that is not new," snarled Bear. "I do not forgive thieves who take from me!  Stand aside, so I can see and kill that thief."  Behind Wolf, Fox shook in fright and dug in the ground faster.  


If Coyote were there, he would make a trick to distract Bear and save Wolf, but Coyote was hiding out of sight.  


Wolf was afraid, but he had never backed out of a fight in his life. He and his father, Old Wolf, had fought many times to protect the people in the north. "I will not stand aside, mighty Bear," he said politely, though his blood was cold with fear. "Let us fight each other. If I win, Fox goes free. If you win, you may have Fox."  


Bear's fine plumed tail was stiff with rage. "There will be no winning!  I will kill you both, and hang your pelts from my cave!" he snarled. He raised both front paws, his claws as long and sharp as knives, to drive them down.  


Just then Fox took hold of Wolf's tail in his jaws and yanked. Wolf fell backwards into the hole Fox had dug while Wolf was talking to Bear. "Dig with me, cousin!" Fox said, his front paws working quickly. "Dig fast!"  


Wolf joined Fox in digging that burrow. Above them Bear roared in rage and tore into the burrow with his claws. But the soil was rocky and hard, and Bear was too big to squeeze into the tunnel after Wolf and Fox. Together they dug to the very edge of Coyote's den, and both emerged there, running inside before Bear found them.  


Coyote was already there; he had run there right away.  


"Shame on you, cousin!" Wolf said angrily to Coyote. "How could you desert a member of your family like that?"  Fox was panting with exhaustion and terror, licking his paws which were all torn and bleeding from his frantic tunnel-digging.  


"When Bear goes out killing there is no family!" Coyote snarled, scratching his fleas hard to hide his deep shame for his cowardice. "There is only to protect yourself!"  


"Coyote is right, cousin Wolf," panted Fox. "Bear is a terror here. He takes all the salmon in the river that runs through the lodge, and leaves nothing for the rest of us; he kills us if we confront him. My wife and cubs are so hungry, I finally decided it was better to be killed by Bear trying to feed them than to starve."  Now Wolf could see the ribs showing through Fox's brown coat.  


Without another word Wolf padded to the back of the yelping noisy Coyote den and came back with three dried salmon from one of his solitary fishing trips outside the lodge; Fox fell upon one gratefully. "I will go back and fight that wicked Bear," Wolf said.  


"Bear will kill you!" Coyote chattered. "I tried to trick him once, and he split me open like a trout and killed me!  Cardinal stepped over my body five times to bring me back to life that time, and as a reward I painted his dull brown feathers with my blood so that he is a bright red now. But ever since that day I have stayed well away from Bear. I can't even look him in the eyes without pissing in fear!  You've never been afraid of anything in your life!"  


"Clan-brother," Wolf said sternly. "I know what fear is."  He pulled his shirt away to show a deep scar under his throat. "I once fell through a hole in the ice and was attacked by an Otter spirit; he seized me with his teeth and dragged me down, and would have drowned me if I had not fought hard to free myself. You can see the scar his teeth left when I tore away from him. When I hear whistling, like an Otter's, I remember and am afraid. But I am a warrior, as my father Old Wolf was before me. He died bravely. I can do no less. And to live life a coward is to be dead.  


"Cousin, Fox must go back to his den, or his wife and children will starve. His family is our family. And I will do this with your help — or without."  


Coyote glared at Wolf. Then he hung his head and slunk to the back of the den, his tail between his legs. Wolf watched him go, angry at his cowardice, and yet he was grieved too. "Where is your den?" he asked Fox.  


"It is on the other side of the river from here, across that flat river-bed, and over the hill," Fox replied. "But Bear's den is between us and my family. We will die if we go out there."  


"Then we will wait until Bear sleeps," said Wolf simply. "Take those other two salmon for your wife and children."  


That night Wolf and Fox crept out of Coyote's den alone, making a circuitous path to the river. Wolf was an excellent tracker; he hid their footprints so well that no one in Wind-Goes-Through-It could have followed them.  


Bear's den was right at the bend of the river, where the salmon ran the thickest; Wolf and Fox could hear his snoring like thunder, and feel the breeze whooshing out of the den made by Bear's long plumed tail fanning the air in his sleep. They stole upstream until they were well past the mouth of the den, and then waded across the river in silence.  


But when they were on the other side of the river, they heard a long low whistle, as if from indrawn breath. Wolf shuddered to hear it, and his blood ran cold. He knew that was the whistle of an Otter spirit. Silently he beckoned Fox to follow him toward the hills.  


Another whistle pierced the night, and another. Wolf shook with terror as the dark shapes of Otters rose up in the river, whistling. "Here," they whistled, "here, they're here, they're here."    


Their whistling woke up Bear. He rose, huge and black in the night of the lodge. He roared and charged Wolf and Fox, his tail up. He was between them and the hills that led to Fox's den, getting closer.  


Wolf's heart was a hammer in his throat. "Run!" he shouted to the shaking Fox. "Run back to Coyote's den!"  As Bear charged him, Wolf tightened his grip on his lance and wailed his father's war-cry.  


Fox tore back, splashing across the river, yelping in terror. One Otter lunged at him, but he bit the creature hard and made it to the other side, running back to the den. "Brother Coyote!  Brother Coyote! Bear has Wolf!" he gasped and collapsed.  


When Coyote heard that, he was stricken with grief and terror. But this time his fear was a hot beating in his heart; it made him run out of his den and toward the river. "Stay in the den!" he shouted to Fox. "Mother, come with me!"    


Dam Coyote, his mother, knew powerful medicine; she followed her son out of the den at once.  


Both Coyotes splashed across the river and tracked the marks of Bear's clawed feet. And there they found Wolf, a puddle of bloody fur beside his broken lance. His belly had been split open like a trout's. "Ai ai ai ai ai!" Coyote wailed in grief at the sight of Wolf torn to the death.  


But Wolf's whiskers twitched. He was alive. Bear had stopped one blow short of killing Wolf.

 

Together the Coyotes carried Wolf's broken body back to the Coyote den. There Dam Coyote and Coyote-woman, Coyote's wife, worked over the wounded Wolf. Coyote-woman carefully sewed Wolf's split belly closed, using the thick white fur he had molted since coming from the cold north to patch the wound, and to this day all wolves have white bellies, no matter what color their other fur is.  


"Why didn't Bear just kill Wolf?" Fox whimpered, stricken at what Wolf had done to save him.  


"Bear does not want Wolf dead," Coyote snarled, his gray fur hackled high. Whatever fear Coyote had felt for Bear had vanished with his rage. "Bear wants Wolf alive, and afraid of him forever."  Coyote bared his teeth, and his tail rose, whip-thin and stiff with his anger. Wolf was not just a clan-brother to Coyote now; they had become as close to each other as true brothers can become.  


"Bear knows I am here," Fox said, and tears rolled from his big brown eyes. "He will strike anyone who emerges to help me. My wife and children will starve."  


Coyote sat down hard and began scratching his fleas hard, first with the left hind foot and then with the right hind foot. As he began to quiet the anger in his mind and think clearly, a trick came into his mind. It was a trick he had not thought of before, because it was very dangerous.  


Coyote stood up. "Stay in the den, clan-brother," he said to Fox, and trotted out of the cave. It was now daytime and all the animals and people were going about their business.  


"He mustn't go outside," Fox whimpered. "Bear will kill him."  


 Coyote-woman looked up from her work over the wounded Wolf. "That husband of mine gets killed all the time. This time he might just get killed over something more important than feeding that lazy belly of his."  


Coyote trotted right down to the river's edge, and then downstream to a patch of reeds and roots. There he dug up a plant that is called soaproot; it tastes very good when cooked but when chewed raw makes a great deal of bitter foam.  


Then Coyote crossed the river, holding the root. He chewed the root until he was frothing at the mouth and looked very sick. Then he made his way to Bear's den, laughing and yowling at the top of his lungs, swinging his hindquarters back and forth in a crazy dance, and singing a mad song.  


That noise drove Bear out of his den, full of rage, his claws out to tear open Coyote. And as Bear stood up to drive his claws home, Coyote lunged forward and bit Bear hard on the leg.  


"Woooooahhhhh!!" Bear roared in pain and fury. Never before had any animal dared to bite Bear, and he had not known how painful it was. "I will kill you, Coyote!  You are dead!"  


"Ha ya!  So you are dead too, Bear!" Coyote sang madly, capering and foaming around Bear, snapping at his legs. "I have the foaming-madness disease, and now you have it!"  Bear's blood dripped from Coyote's jaws, mixed with foam. He laughed insanely, and capered around Bear.  


All animals have one terrible fear, even mighty Bear — and that is the fear of the foaming-madness that turns them into monsters before killing them slowly and painfully.  


Bear roared again — but this time he roared in terror. As Coyote danced up to him, snapping and giggling, Bear scrambled away from Coyote, afraid of his snapping, foaming teeth. "You will die, Coyote!" he shouted in rage.  


"Hee hee hee hee hee!" Coyote giggled, lurching and swinging his tail. "I only need to have someone step over me five times and I am well again!  But you will rave and roar and tear your own head open to stop the pain before you die, and you will be dead forever!  Heya, that little cure for foaming-sickness I learned from my mother isn't even necessary for me. I think I'll go bite those Otters, too. Die bravely, Bear!"  He lurched away, dancing and singing. The Otters, who had risen from the river to see what the noise was about, chittered in terror and scattered before Coyote.  


"Stop, stop, Coyote!" Bear roared in a frightened voice. "Come back, come back!  Give me the magic that cures foaming-sickness!"  


"Only one cure, only one cure," Coyote sang, swinging his head back and forth, foam splattering the ground.  


"Tell me, tell me!" Bear whimpered. "Please tell me, mighty hunter Coyote!"  It was the first time Bear had ever been polite to anyone.  


"Promises, promises," Coyote giggled. "Promise, Bear!"  


"What promise, what?" Bear whimpered. "I will promise anything if you will cure me!"  


"Never harm my clan again, ever," Coyote hissed, and for the first time he let his anger show in his yellow eyes. "Not one fox, not one wolf, not one coyote!"  


"I swear," Bear whispered. "I swear by the Wind!"  And Wind, the mighty chief, whirled hard around Bear to ruffle his fine tail and show him that his promise had been heard and witnessed.  


"We will hold you to that promise," Coyote said. "We will remind you, always. Now I will cure you. Hold still. Don't move a muscle!"  


The grateful, terrified Bear froze in his tracks. Coyote capered around him five times, singing under his breath the same mad nonsense songs. And on the fifth time around Bear, he lurched at him and with one snap of his jaws bit off Bear's fine plumed tail, right at the stump.  


"Woooooaaahhh!" Bear roared again, howling in pain and rage to see his beautiful tail hanging from Coyote's foaming mouth, all gray and brown and white. He turned himself around and around, trying to lick his bleeding tail-stump. Twice now, Coyote had bitten him.  


"I sang the sickness into your tail, and then I had to bite it off," Coyote explained, his yellow eyes glinting. "You are cured of the foaming-sickness. But beware, Bear!  If you are bitten again I cannot cure you!  You have no more tail to bite off. Keep your word!  Remember the deal we made!"  


Bear was shaking with anger and pain, terror and confusion. He had never before been cowed and bullied the way he had terrorized the other animals and people for so long. He had no power over this fearless Coyote. He could only say one thing. "I will remember!"  


With that, Coyote picked up Bear's bitten-off tail in his mouth, turned his back on Bear and walked away at a leisurely pace. He waded across the river, and the Otters fled before him; to this day the Otter spirits no longer bother the members of Coyote's family. He left Bear behind him, frightened and tailless.  


Coyote went back to his den, laughing and cuffing the pups every which way and nuzzling his wife Coyote-woman in greeting. Dam Coyote was still licking Wolf's wounds, which were nearly closed; Wolf lifted his head to see who had come in.  


"Ho, cousin, you'll be as scrawny as me for a while," Coyote chuckled. "But look what I have brought all of us!"  And Coyote displayed Bear's beautiful plumed tail, all white and gray and brown.  


"You have defeated Bear!" Fox said in disbelief.  


Wolf said nothing, but there was a pride in his sky-blue eyes that made Coyote feel strong.  


"And now our whole clan is safe from Bear," Coyote said, grinning. "And we will make sure he remembers!"    


With that Coyote bit Bear's long plumed tail into three pieces. He attached the white part to Wolf's tail, the brown part to Fox's tail and the gray part to his own tail. "Go on, clan-brother," Coyote said to the astonished Fox. "Take your salmon and walk back to your den. It is safe for you to steal fish from Bear now — he will not harm you. If he approaches you, lift your tail!"  


Trembling with fear, Fox walked out of Coyote's den. There was no Bear. Gaining courage, Fox capered down the slope and along the river, tail up to show Bear's plumes waving from his own tail. He capered home free of fear, carrying food for his family.  


Coyote sat with Wolf and tussled with his pups who were tugging their father's new plumed tail, yipping and tumbling over him.  


"Your fear is gone," Wolf whispered.  


"Not all of it," Coyote said cheerily, "there's enough fear left to keep me clever. I gave the rest to Bear, and he may keep it. And you, cousin?  What about your fear?"  


"I am not afraid," Wolf gasped. "I am only in pain."  


Coyote nuzzled his friend's ear. "You have nothing to fear from Otter whistles any more, my brother. I have taught them to be afraid of us too. When you are well again, we two will go salmon fishing right across the river from Bear's den!"  


And that's the way it happened. To this very day, a fox or coyote or wolf may steal from a bear without fear of attack; their tails still wave the plumes stolen from Bear, and from that day to this Bear has had a stump of a tail.


End file.
